A figure skater is spinning with her arms extended. She now pulls her arms close to her body. What happens?
A) Her angular acceleration decreases.
B) Her rotational inertia decreases.
C) The net external torque on her increases.
D) Her lever arm gets shorter.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When the figure skater pulls her arms close to her body, her rotational inertia decreases because her mass is now closer to her axis of rotation. This causes her angular velocity to increase in order to conserve angular momentum. The other choices are incorrect because there is no change in the net external torque or lever arm.

A Figure Skater Is Spinning with Her Arms Extended